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Alongside the 26 basic Latin letters, German uses the umlaut letters ä, ö and ü, as well as ß. The two dots belong to the spelling and indicate a different vowel from a, o or u.
In everyday discussion, “umlaut” often means one of these dotted letters. In grammar, it can also describe a vowel change, as in Mann → Männer. An umlaut vowel is not pronounced by combining two separate vowel sounds.
Writing umlauts without a German keyboard
If you cannot type the characters, the usual substitutes are ä → ae, ö → oe, ü → ue. At the beginning of a normally capitalized word, use Ae, Oe, Ue; in all capitals, use AE, OE, UE. For example, Überraschung can be written Ueberraschung.
These are spelling substitutes, not an instruction to pronounce an additional “e.” Simply dropping the dots is misleading: schon means “already,” while schön means “beautiful.”
Keyboard layouts and input methods vary. On a phone, holding the vowel key often offers the umlaut. Modern text and many internationalized domain names can contain umlauts, so it is inaccurate to say web addresses generally cannot display them. Always use the exact address supplied by the website; an ae version is not automatically the same domain.
Where do umlauts appear?
Some nouns form their plural with a vowel change and an ending:
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| der Mann | die Männer | man / men |
| der Kopf | die Köpfe | head / heads |
| der Zug | die Züge | train / trains |
This is not a rule for every plural. Learn the plural with each noun. Umlauts can also be part of a singular noun, as in das Rätsel — riddle, das Gehör — hearing and die Küste — coast.
You will find them in other word classes too: the adjective müde — tired, the adverb drüben — over there, and the conjunction während — while. They also occur in grammatical changes such as alt → älter — old → older and fahren → du fährst — to travel → you travel.
Pronouncing ä
Short ä is [ɛ], similar to the vowel in English “bed”: Äpfel — apples. Long ä is commonly represented as [ɛː], as in Käse — cheese, though many speakers pronounce it as [eː]. English names such as “Aaron” vary too much by accent to be a reliable model.
Other examples include die Gebärdensprache — sign language and spät — late. Notice both vowel quality and length when you listen.
Pronouncing ö
Ö is a rounded front vowel. The long sound is [øː], as in schön; the short sound is [œ], as in können — to be able to. English “burning” is not an exact equivalent.
Keep your tongue toward the front of your mouth while rounding your lips. Use a native recording to adjust the sound. Practice öffentlich — public, Österreich — Austria and schön — beautiful. Adjectives such as öffentlich and schön are lowercase within a sentence.
Pronouncing ü
For long ü [yː], begin with the tongue position for the vowel in English “me,” then round your lips without moving your tongue back. Try die Tür — door and über — over. Short ü [ʏ] appears in words such as müssen — must.
Another useful noun is die Überraschung — surprise. Rounded lips alone are not enough: keeping the tongue forward distinguishes ü from u. Listen and repeat a short phrase rather than relying entirely on an English comparison.
Practice spelling and meaning
Write schön, müde and Äpfel without umlaut characters. Then compare fordern — to demand and fördern — to support/promote in a recording. Can you hear the different vowels?
Check the spellings
schoen, muede, Aepfel. The substitute e is part of the spelling, not an extra syllable.
For more sound patterns, see our German pronunciation and alphabet guide. You can also practice with the Goethe-Institut’s pronunciation trainer.
